The State of Maritime Piracy 2016

This 2016 study represents the seventh year that Oceans Beyond Piracy began the State of Maritime Piracy report series. Since the beginning of the series, the scope of our research has expanded to include analyses of the economic and human costs of piracy in the Western Indian Ocean Region, West Africa, Asia, and—for the first time this year—Latin America and the Caribbean.

Maritime piracy and armed robbery at sea impacts a wide range of stakeholders in a multitude of ways. OBP believes that it is possible to end violence at sea and that identifying and explaining the significance of these crimes is an important step in achieving this mission.

Decreased vigilance and deterrence in high risk areas is providing pirate networks with the opportunity to attack vulnerable vessels, especially off the Horn of Africa.

Kidnap for ransom attacks in the Sulu and Celebes Seas in South East Asia have significantly increased in 2016.

West Africa, and particularly the waters off Nigeria, continues to be an area of concern as the number of piracy attacks almost doubled from 2015.

The first ever analysis of the human cost of piracy and armed robbery in Latin America is included in this year’s study.